Joseph Wanton Morrison

Joseph Wanton Morrison

Joseph Wanton Morrison (born May 4, 1783 in New York , USA , † February 15, 1826 at sea) was a British officer who was used in the British-American War of 1812.

Life

Born in the USA, Joseph Wanton Morrison joined the British Army as an ensign in 1793 , but did not enter active service until 1799. That year he took part in fighting in Holland and was wounded in a skirmish near Egmond aan Zee on October 2nd. From 1800 he was a captain and served in the garrison of Menorca until 1802 . Briefly decommissioned as a major in 1802, after the renewed outbreak of war with France he received a post in Ireland , later with the 89th Infantry Regiment, until he was promoted to lieutenant colonel and commander of the 1st West India Regiment in Trinidad in 1809 . In 1811 he was transferred back to the 89th Infantry Regiment, with whose second battalion he went to Canada in October 1812, after the outbreak of the war with the USA in 1812 .

The battalion was initially in Kingston in Upper Canada . In the fall of 1813, Morrison received from Governor General Sir George Prevost the command of an "observation corps", which should hinder the advance of a US army under Major General James Wilkinson along the Saint Lawrence River . Wilkinson's army formed part of a pincer attack on Montreal , which was complemented by the advance of another US army under Maj . General Wade Hampton along the Chateauguay River . Morrison and his outnumbered soldiers performed so well that Wilkinson detached part of his army under Brigadier General John Parker Boyd to destroy the pesky pursuers. Morrison, supported by a gunboat flotilla under William Howe Mulcaster , was able to choose the battlefield himself near the farm of a certain John Chrysler . In the following battle at Chrysler's Farm on November 11, 1813, Morrison brilliantly harnessed the superior discipline and firepower of his professional soldiers and inflicted a heavy defeat on the Americans, who were at least five times superior. Together with Charles-Michel de Salaberry's victory in the Battle of the Chateauguay River over Hampton's army, this success saved Montreal from an American attack, as Wilkinson then - like Hampton - withdrew. For his success, Morrison received a gold medal, sword of honor and thanks from the House of Assembly ( Lower Canada Parliament ).

As a result, Morrison initially served at various locations on the Saint Lawrence River until his battalion was relocated to the Niagara Peninsula in the face of another American invasion . In the bloody battle at Lundy's Lane on July 25, 1814, Morrison's battalion occupied a key position in the center of the British lines under Lieutenant General Gordon Drummond and was involved in repelling a series of massive American attacks. The battalion and Morrison, seriously wounded, again distinguished themselves in this crucial battle. Until the end of the war he stayed with his unit in Canada, where he a. a. participated in the court martial against Major General Henry Procter . After his return to England , Morrison temporarily retired from active service due to his injuries, but received the rank of Brevet Colonel in 1819 and in 1821 as an active lieutenant colonel in command of the 44th Infantry Regiment in Ireland. In 1822 the regiment was transferred to India , where Morrison was promoted to brigadier general and commander of the Southwest Division of the British Army in India in 1824 . In this capacity he led a successful campaign against the Burmese in the Arakan region, but fell ill with malaria . On the return trip to England for a vacation he died on February 15, 1826 at sea. He had been married to Elizabeth Hester Marriott since 1809 but had no children.

Web links

• Joseph Wanton Morrison . In: Dictionary of Canadian Biography . 24 volumes, 1966–2018. University of Toronto Press, Toronto ( English , French ).